Friday after class, a group of Butler students caught a bus to Stirling. Stirling is the site where William Wallace (aka Braveheart to some) defeated the English. Wallace would loose at the Battle of Falkirk, and Robert the Bruce would defeat the English at Bannockburn gaining Scottish Independence. This weekend, each student was placed in a locals home. Max and myself were with Irene and Alister Thoirs. The home was very cozy and we were treated very well. I thoughouly enjoyed staying with Irene (Alister was a taxi driver and would be gone at night driving until 5 am). There was also a lovable dog named Holly. Holly found out right away that Max and I would pet her and show her the love. It only took a few hours for her to realize that when we sat down, she would hop on the couch next to us and wait to be pet. It worked. I could not resist. When you stopped, she would grab your hand with her paw and pull it onto her head. Smart dog! Anyway, that first night since we got there at around 7 pm, we had dinner at our home and watched tv with Irene. We watched a Scottish Soap called River City, X-factor, Celebrity Chef. Whats funny, is most of the students watched the same shows. It was also funny that all of our parents knew each other and lived only down the street from one another.
Me and Holly
left to right: myself, Holly, Irene, Alister
I found William Wallace, and it was not Mel Gibson
Cast of Robert the Bruce's Skull
Looks like a vintage baseball, but its actually the oldest known football (soccer). It was found in the rafters of the Castle and remained there for hundreds of years.
I like the chops!
left to right: Ashley, Lauren, Caroline
left to right: Caroline, Ashley, Lauren
We then walked up a hill to the Sterling Castle where we did not go inside. We did not have tickets, but I was going to come back later and go inside with my Historic Scotland Membership. We had lunch looking at the castle and made our way down to the Old Town Jail. This was supposedly the hardest toughest jail in Scotland in its day. It focused on giving inmates meaningless labor that would be dull on the mind. One contraption was this wheel that you would spin. Inside a barrel sand would be picked up by the wheel then dropped again. Totally not fun. Inside, our guide pretended to be about 5 different people. He would get in your face and be creepy. He was really good at it. Sadly, we were not allowed to take pictures of this. So I only have the picture of the sign and the building itself.
We then had free time. I went with Max, John, Emily and Adam and went to the church of the Holy Rude before going to the castle. The church was not open, so we did not see inside. Sad day. The castle was a little better. To keep things short with the castle, it was similar to Edinburgh Castle. It one of the finest examples of Renaissance art, has interactive displays (which I personally don't like) and everything looked new. There is just something about seeing a castle that is bare and grey. I like it cause its how it was when they found it. It was too polished for my taste personally, but I am glad that I went.
Historical note: Sterling Castle sits in a very important place in Scotland. It sits on the banks of the river, and is the shallowest spot to cross. Back in the day, to travel from Southern to Northern Scotland, one had to cross at Sterling, thus the strategic value. Wallace won it from the English, lost it again, and this has been happening over the centuries.
Church of the Holy Rude
In the cemetery next to the church, I found this tomb stone with a skull on it, but with the dirt and grass all over it, it looked like a skull came out of the ground. Kind of cool and creepy.
This picture reminds me of the tower and cemetery at the Cathedral at St. Andrews. Similar structure.
I like the entrances to castles. They are very grand and defensible. I like how they look. Maybe I will have a facade of a gate like this in front of my house one day.
I wait patiently until there is no or just a few people in the gate when I take a picture, so I take them when I get a good shot with few people
My host home bedroom!
I am trying to look scared, but I was laughing in both of the pictures. For those HP fans out there, its a dementor I'm sure.
Where I will sit one day!
John and I walked around the castle separately since we felt the same way about things being too new, plus we go through things quickly. We walked to the Thistle mall. In the mall I purchased a CD called Strings N' Stripes from The Baseballs who do covers of popular songs in 50s Elvis Rock style. Here is a link for those who want to get a taste. They are 4x platinum... in Finland. The next big thing I am sure. This song is not on my album, but I like this one a lot.
Lauren, myself, Max, John, and Adam went out that evening to see the town. Lauren's mom was really cute in saying to not leave Lauren's side for any time (besides bathroom) cause there are "hooligans." There were a lot of dark alleys, and I would stop at them and look in until Lauren and Max would look. I found some super sketchy alleys, but we did not go down them. We stayed to clearly lit streets. We went to this pub and watched some football and talked for a while. We had some trouble getting back since we could not get a taxi right away. We walked to the train station to get picked up cause the line was much smaller. A great night. But seriously, please listen to the Baseball's, you won't regret it.
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